The Schara family alleges that St. Elizabeth Hospital staff killed their daughter with Down syndrome by giving her a cocktail of sedatives and wrongly labeling her a ‘do not resuscitate’ case.
APPLETON, Wisconsin (LifeSiteNews) -- A trial has finally begun for the death of a 19-year-old at a Wisconsin hospital in 2021, whose parents accuse medical staff of a string of misconduct that killed the unvaccinated girl.
As originally covered by LifeSiteNews in February 2022, Grace Schara was admitted to St. Elizabeth Hospital in Appleton on October 6, 2021, five days after testing positive for COVID-19. Schara had Down syndrome and was described by her father Scott as high functioning. St. Elizabeth is part of Ascension Medical Group, which purports to be “faith-based.”
Parents Scott and Cindy Schara detailed a string of troubling aspects of their daughter’s treatment, starting with hospital staffers criticizing their rejection of the COVID-19 shots and their acceptance of alternative treatment protocols, then escalating to inaccurate blood oxygen readings being used to attempt to have Grace put on a ventilator.
Most significantly, she was wrongly labeled a Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) case and given a cocktail of sedative, anxiety medication, and morphine as her health declined, and she ultimately died after relatives refused the family’s insistence she wasn’t a DNR and pleas to resuscitate her. The family added at the time that hospital officials refused to subsequently meet with them to hear their grievances.
Since then, the Scharas have worked to raise awareness of Grace’s story through various means, including a website, anyone in the media who will listen, and billboards.
In December 2022, the Scharas reported state authorities’ disinterest in getting to the bottom of the case. They said they requested that the Wisconsin Department of Safety & Professional Services (DSPS), Department of Health Services (DHS), and Department of Justice (DOJ) all investigate different aspects under their respective purviews, but none found wrongdoing.
The following year, the family brought a lawsuit against St. Elizabeth maintaining Grace died because of a “lethal cocktail of drugs” and a “fraudulent DNR order,” due to “negligence” and “non consensual treatment” from health care professionals, and announced in November 2023 they had secured a jury trial, which they hailed as the “first time that doctors’ intentions come into play in this manner in a civil case.”
Now, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that jury selection began in the case June 2 for opening arguments starting the next day. The entirety of the trial is being live-streamed by Children’s Health Defense.
The Scharas say they will not be doing any interviews with the press until after the trial is over, so as to keep the focus on the matter at hand and keep the media from attempting to discredit their cause with talk of “conspiracy theories.”
“All of my theories were developed after Grace died.” Scott Schara says. “They are not relevant to her experience in the hospital. If they make me look crazy, it takes the focus off the facts of the case.”
Medical malpractice attorney Jerome Hierseman expressed skepticism about the family’s chances, telling the Sentinel that alleging battery was a “legal Hail Mary” to “kick the case outside the realm of medical malpractice limitations,” and difficult to sustain because it requires “proving intent.”
But writing on her Substack, Americans for Health Freedom president Dr. Mary Talley Bowden said that, while the case “will test the legal climate in Wisconsin, where hospitals wield significant influence,” victory “could set a precedent, exposing hospital misconduct and prompting reform.”
The case can be followed by watching the trial via CHD and visiting OurAmazingGrace.net, which also links to various social media accounts the family has established for updates.
